Brand identity and culture interaction in the Indian context: a grounded approach

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how elements of culture and cultural cues such as customs, values and norms interact with the brand identity. A qualitative research has been done to understand which cultural aspect is important for which aspect of brand identity. The results would be useful for designing the product.Design/methodology/approachThis research focuses on exploring and validating the interaction between the factors of brand identity and various dimensions of culture. Multiple frameworks of brand identity and culture have been reviewed, factors have been identified and the interaction between the factors of brand identity and elements of culture has been established in the Indian context. Grounded theory approach has been exercised here as a holistic inductive research technique for identifying the interaction between factors of brand identity and elements of culture. This paper has explored inter-relationship between strategies adopted by managers in creation of brand identity and its consequential perception.FindingsFollowing interaction has been found between the brand identity factors and cultural aspects – product shape, product size and packaging size – were found to interact with individualism vs collectivism, brand image, overall brand presentation, distribution, perception and quality were found to be strongly associated with power distance. Similarly associations were found between country of origin and belief, quality, product differentiation, frame of reference, points of parity and uncertainty avoidance, between Brand Ambassador – Person/ Icon and 9; Beliefs, between Fit with environment and self, Brand customer relationship and long term vs short term orientation, between Enhanced Self Perception and Masculinity vs Femininity, between Brand heritage, packaging colors and images and Customs and Symbols.Research limitations/implicationsThe outcomes of our research show that customization is an indispensable principle to be followed in the global markets and elements of culture and cultural indications such as customs, values and collective norms are integral in driving the branding strategies.Practical implicationsThe outcomes of the study lay emphasis on the parallel groundwork that the managers must make for their strategies, so that, the company centric variables of brand identity are well in sync with the socio cultural indicators of the region they are serving.Originality/valueUnlike previous researches, this work records the consumers' perspective in understanding their purchase choices based on their cultural norms and influences.

The Origins of Religious Disbelief: A Dual Inheritance Approach

Widespread religious disbelief represents a key testing ground for theories of religion. We evaluated the predictions of three prominent theoretical approaches—secularization, cognitive byproduct, and dual inheritance—in a nationally representative (United States, N = 1,417) data set with preregistered analyses and found considerable support for the dual inheritance perspective. Of key predictors of religious disbelief, witnessing fewer credible cultural cues of religious commitment was the most potent, β = .28, followed distantly by reflective cognitive style, β = .13, and less advanced mentalizing, β = .05. Low cultural exposure predicted about 90% higher odds of atheism than did peak cognitive reflection, and cognitive reflection only predicted disbelief among those relatively low in cultural exposure to religion. This highlights the utility of considering both evolved intuitions and transmitted culture and emphasizes the dual roles of content- and context-biased social learning in the cultural transmission of disbelief (preprint https://psyarxiv.com/e29rt/ ).

Gendered Frames of Mobilization: Differential Participation of Women in Ethno-politics of Darjeeling

While issues related to collective mobilizations have recently attracted considerable attention, little has been done to explore and explain the differential rate of participation of women in different forms of mobilization. While addressing the issues of gender within the charred ethno-politics of Darjeeling, this article will analyse women’s participation in two successive waves of Gorkhaland movements, followed by the recent mobilization for recognition as scheduled tribes. In this regard, the article will highlight how the overt use of violence, followed by the response of the state, contributes significantly towards differential participation in ethnic movements. Looking at the changing ethno-politics of the Darjeeling hills, the article argues that the gender difference within social movements is produced through anchoring frames which use cultural cues to structure the repertoire of the movement.

F O R E I G N L A N G U A G E T E A C H I N G M E T H O D O L O G Y

The capability to use cultural cues in order to function effectively in culturally diverse situations has been measured by the fashionable concept of cultural intelligence (CQ) and its four dimensions (metacognitive CQ, cognitive CQ, motivational CQ and behavioral CQ) in a lot of previous studies and research. This capability is an important asset of the competitive portfolio for almost all companies in today's globalized world. Our study builds on a recent intensive research and brings anew the issue of CQ into the Czech environment. Specifically, the relationship between language skills and cultural intelligence is examined. Using the PLS – SEM statistical method, a sample of 100 respondents studying in the English BA program at one Czech private university and coming from different countries (mostly from China) was analyzed to demonstrate that there was a positive correlation between foreign language proficiency and all dimensions of CQ. On the contrary, another hypothesis (proposed in one previous study) was not confirmed: purposeful preparation for a language exam and its successful passing does not stimulate the development of the motivational (or any other) dimension of CQ or, in any case, no significant difference was found between the two groups of those who possess a language certificate and those who do not.

Autobiographical Narrative of Traumatic Experience: Disruption and Resilience in South African Truth Commission Testimonies

Following a suggestion by Crosthwaite (2005) that autobiographical narratives can be viewed as organizational practices, this article turns attention to events of recalling and articulating personal histories of trauma produced during and after the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings of 1996–8. Witness testimonies at the TRC were institutionally framed to fit the aims of national reconciliation in ways that may have limited the kinds of contribution witnesses unfamiliar with the institutional structure could make. Discourses recorded at the human rights violations hearings of the TRC give evidence of speakers recalling traumatic events of state violence that disrupted their lives and displaced them both physically and psychologically. This article considers how traumatic experience poses challenges to the coherence of autobiographical narrative as well as how narrative structures that do not fit institutionally introduced formats can become opaque to the institutional setting. It will also reflect on how the Truth Commission narrations of trauma carry linguistic and cultural cues that signal not only disruption but also the resilience of the narrator.

The Origins of Religious Disbelief: A Dual Inheritance Approach

Widespread religious disbelief represents a key testing ground for theories of religion. We evaluated the predictions of three prominent theoretical approaches – secularization, cognitive byproduct, and dual inheritance – in a nationally representative (USA, N = 1417) dataset with preregistered analyses, and found considerable support for the dual inheritance perspective. Of key predictors of religious disbelief, witnessing fewer credible cultural cues of religious commitment was the most potent, β = 0.28, followed distantly by reflective cognitive style, β = 0.13, and less advanced mentalizing, β = 0.05. Low cultural exposure predicted about 90% higher odds of atheism than did peak cognitive reflection, and cognitive reflection only predicted disbelief among those relatively low in cultural exposure to religion. This highlights the utility of considering both evolved intuitions and transmitted culture, and emphasizes the dual roles of content- and context-biased social learning in the cultural transmission of disbelief.

Between What “Was” and What “Is”

This chapter presents a briefer profile of four more individuals from Nangarhar province. The common theme among them is their coming of age in a quickly morphing social and cultural environment, and the frictions (both internally and outwardly) that each of them has to go through in order to make sense of contradictory cultural cues in a volatile political space. The author followed these four adolescents into their early adulthood and participated in their struggle to shape a future for themselves, amid war, new opportunities, and the call of tradition.